Business loans at Funding Circle A guide for introducers
Dedicated service for introducers Getting finance for your clients is now fast and hassle free. So you can help your clients get the fast access to finance they need to progress, you can apply anytime online in just 10 minutes. You ll then get a dedicated Business Development Manager and a decision typically in 24 hours. We help established businesses of all sizes with flexible loans for a wide range of purposes. So whatever your client needs funding for, just tell us how we can help when you apply for your client. Contents Loan types and eligibility 3 Applying for your client s loan 5 How loans are funded at Funding Circle 10 Rates, fees and interest 11 Receiving an offer 11 Accepting an offer 12 Pay-out and commission 12 Repayments and second loans 13 Further information 13
Loan types and eligibility We offer loans from 5,000 to 1,000,000 for almost any purpose. The amount required and type of security available will determine which loan type is best for your client. We offer the following loans: Unsecured loans up to 350,000 Our most popular loans, these are fast, highly flexible loans that can be used for almost any purpose. Unlike other lenders, we do not charge higher rates for unsecured loans. In all cases we require a personal guarantee (PG). Loans should be for the benefit of the business; unfortunately we cannot fund management buyouts or share purchase by individuals. Secured loans up to 1 million Also available for almost any purpose, typically we take a charge over the business assets in the form of a debenture. We can also consider a charge over an off-balance sheet portfolio of properties on a first or second ranking basis. A PG will also be required. You can apply for your client if they have: 2+ years of trading history At least 1 year of filed or formally prepared accounts No outstanding County Court Judgments larger than 250 UK ownership and resident directors: majority that are UK resident Clients must typically be profitable in their latest accounts and the company must be UK owned. A one-off CCJ or significant adverse event which is now satisfied may be considered with explanation on a case-by-case basis. Download our factsheet from your summary page for more information. 3
Credit assessment: what do we look at? Our credit assessment team will assess each business application individually. We help businesses that are: Able to demonstrate the loan repayments are affordable Creditworthy looking at both the business and its director/s credit history We do not lend to businesses that are moneylenders, such as pawnbrokers. Want to check if your client is eligible? You can check in 30 seconds by logging in to your account, or contact our business development team at introducer@fundingcircle.com. 4
Applying for your client s loan Your account allows you to prepare, submit and monitor loan applications for your clients. You can check their eligibility without leaving a credit footprint in just 30 seconds. The full application takes just 10 minutes from start to finish. 1. Check their eligibility Once logged in to your account, click New quote to check your client s eligibility. Simply enter your client s details (including business name, company type, amount required and primary loan purpose) and you ll receive an instant indication as to whether they pass our minimum criteria. Please also note that the data used for the eligibility check is limited, so it is always worth checking for yourself to see if your client fits our basic criteria. 5
Instant quote For clients that pass, you ll also see the estimated rates and fees, as well as monthly repayments. Don t worry; you can always change the amount, term and loan purpose later on. Feel free to share these figures directly with your client, but please note that the risk band, and therefore the interest rate, is indicative, and the rate may go up or down once the application has gone through full credit assessment. 2. Submitting client contact information Once you know a client is eligible, you can progress to the full application by clicking Continue application. We will need some more information about your client, including contact details. You will remain the primary contact, but we ll use the details to contact them regarding their direct debit, including confirmation of payment dates for the loan, and if any payments are late. 6
You will also need to confirm that you have your client s consent to submit the loan request on their behalf, and they have accepted our terms and conditions. Prefer a paper form? We have created a simple PDF application form which you can download from your summary page and provide to your clients if you would prefer to do this offline. 3. Completing application details On the third and last part of the application, you will need to provide: Number of full-time employees Short loan purpose description Sector Whether the business for whom you are applying: has an overdraft has taken on more than 25k of new debt in the last 12 months 7
Finally, we will need details (including full name, date of birth and 3-year personal address history) of each significant business owner, whether they are either a shareholder or proprietor owning at least 20%. We will do a personal credit check and a director check on the named individuals in this section during the credit assessment. 8
Save your application for later The application autosaves as you progress so you won t lose your work if you need to step away from your desk for a minute. All complete? Click on Continue to document upload to send the online application directly to our credit assessment team. Send us your client s financials To assess your client s application we will need the following, which you can either upload after submitting the application, or email directly to the credit assessment team at credit@fundingcircle.com: Latest full filed accounts Last 3+ months of bank statements If filed accounts are more than 16 months old, we need a full year P&L and balance sheet (management accounts, spreadsheets, accounting software reports are acceptable) Please provide any additional supporting documentation here such as proposal report form or additional write-up via email to credit@fundingcircle.com 9
The more recent the last filed accounts are, the less we normally need to see. Our credit assessment team may request additional information but we will try to keep this to a minimum. If you have any queries, please contact your Business Development Manager. Checklist: have you done the following? Completed the online application and clicked Continue to document upload? Emailed or uploaded all requested documentation? That s it you ll have an answer from our credit assessment team typically within 24 hours How loans are funded at Funding Circle Your client s loan will be funded by the community of investors who lend to businesses through our platform. They include over 63,000 people, local and national government, and financial organisations. Their loan may be funded by lots of individuals lending small amounts, or by one organisation. This is allocated at random. We have financial institutions who have committed to lend hundreds of millions of pounds to businesses, like your clients, over the coming years. Loans are funded in days Usually loans are funded and transferred to the client s account in just a few days; however, it can take up to 7 days. We ll send you an email confirmation once the loan is funded, and you can login to track its progress online. 10
Rates, fees and interest The cost of your client s loan is determined by: The interest rate rates are between 4.9% and 21.9% depending on term of the loan and allocated risk band. Your commission we offer a flexi-fee option where you choose the commission you would like to earn, which in turn has an impact on the total fee your client pays. Fees and commission Funding Circle fees range from 1.5 to 6%. Your client will pay one single fee each time they take out a loan, and only if they decide to accept the loan. The combined fee and commission must not be more than 10% for each loan. For more information about commission and fees, please get in contact with your Business Development Manager or the team on introducer@fundingcircle.com or 020 3667 2208 (Monday Friday, 9am 6pm). No early repayment charges All Funding Circle loans can be repaid early at no charge. If your client does repay their loan early, they ll only pay interest on the time they borrowed. Receiving an offer Once our credit assessment team have completed their review, you ll receive an email confirming your client s offer, including the loan amount, term, rate, commission details and any additional conditions that need to be met prior to paying out the loan. Please note offers may be conditional and could be withdrawn or the rate changed once further information is received. The following will also be attached to the offer email: 1. Loan contract (please check the fee presented on the contract is correct) 2. Guarantee forms 3. Direct debit mandate 4. Documents guide and ID requirements You can also download the loan contract from your broker account. 11
Accepting an offer Once you ve received an offer, checked the fee is correct and loan documents are accurate, you ll need to send the signed documents to credit@fundingcircle.com in a soft-copy format. Please note we can only accept good-quality scanned documents. We also ask you to send each document as a separate PDF, for example the full loan contract as one PDF and the personal guarantee as another PDF. You ll also need to attach your client s ID documents including: 1. Certified photographic ID (passport or driving licence) for each signatory and/or guarantor 2. Proof of home address for each signatory and/or guarantor (this should be dated within 3 months of today s date) 3. Bank statement for the business that matches the direct debit form Once you ve sent the documents, log in to your account and complete the acceptance process online by entering your client s bank details as per the direct debit form. Once the documents have been checked by the team the loan will be funded by investors. Pay-out and commission If the loan is funded by 5pm, the money will be transferred to your client the following day. However, if the loan relates to a consolidation of an existing loan the deadline for next-day payment is 2pm. Commission will be paid into your broker account for you to withdraw once the funds have been transferred to the client. Commission You earn commission with every loan you place through Funding Circle. We offer a flexi-fee option where you can choose the commission you would like to earn, which in turn has an impact on the total fee your client pays. The combined fee and commission must not be more than 10% for each loan. Your commission is paid directly into your Funding Circle account the same day as your client s loan is paid out. Withdraw your commission by clicking on the Commission transfers tab in your account. 12
Repayments and second loans Loans are repaid via direct debit in fixed, monthly instalments over the chosen loan term. Payment date - important note Your client s monthly repayment to investors will fall on the same day of the month that the loan request ended, not the date the funds are received. Typically, the direct debit is taken 5 working days before this date, to ensure funds are received from your client in advance of the payment to investors. It s important to advise your client of this. Repay early with no fee Your client can repay the full amount early at any time with no penalties. Does your client need a second loan? Your client can also take out a second loan before they ve finished repaying the first, provided they meet the credit assessment criteria at the time of applying. They can borrow again for the same purpose, or for something completely different, provided they have made 1 repayment, we can see that it is affordable and understand why they need the additional funds. Further information If you have any questions or want to find out more, please contact our business development team Email: introducer@fundingcircle.com Call: 020 3667 2208 Monday Friday, 9am 6pm Funding Circle Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under firm registration number 722513. Funding Circle is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Registered in England (Co. No. 06968588) with registered office at 71 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4AY. Copyright Funding Circle 2017. All rights reserved 13